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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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https://archive.org/details/influenceofmindo01dubo 


The  Influence  of  the 
Mind  on  the  Body 


By  DOCTOR  PAUL  DUBOIS 

Professor  in  the  University  of  Berne 
jbtihir  of  “ T he  Psychic  Treatment  of  Nervous  Distrden  ’* 


Translated  -from  the  Fifth  French  Edition 
By 

L.  B.  GALLATIN 


NINTH  EDITION 


FUNK  & WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 


Copyright,  1906 
By 

FUNK  & WAGNALLS  COMPANY 
[Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America'] 
Published  June,  1906 


9-20 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 
MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


1X7HATEVER  may  be  the  opinions 
" * which  one  professes  in  the  matter  of 
philosophy,  whether  one  is  a spiritualist  or 
a scientific  materialist,  each  one  recognizes 
the  reciprocal  influence  which  the  spirit 
and  the  body,  the  moral  and  the  physical, 
exert  upon  each  other. 

It  will  certainly  be  interesting  to  attempt 
a precise  definition  of  these  words  which 
one  employs  so  frequently,  and  to  show  the 
transformations  which  the  notion  of  the 
soul  undergoes  when  one  passes  from  the 
dualism  of  religions  to  the  unity  of  nat- 
ural philosophy. 

But  that  will  not  be  the  object  of  my 
conference  to-day,  and  I shall  content  my- 
self, for  the  moment,  with  a summary 

1 3 3 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


definition.  When  I speak  of  the  mind, 
of  morality,  of  the  soul,  if  you  will,  I 
understand-  by  that  the  ideas,  mental 
representations,  sentiments,  all  these  things 
which  we  do  not  see,  of  which  we  take 
cognizance  only  through  the  conscience. 

The  physique  of  man  is  the  entire  body, 
comprising  in  it  the  brain  with  its  thousands 
of  cells  and  fibers,  with  the  organs  of  feel- 
ing, these  delicate  antennae  which  put  it 
in  communication  with  the  outside  world. 
This  body  exists;  we  can  see  it,  can  touch 
it.  We  have  no  doubts  of  its  reality,  its 
materialism,  in  spite  of  the  specious  rea- 
soning of  some  philosophers  who  have 
pushed  idealism  to  the  extreme. 

To  say  that  the  physical  has  an  influence 
over  the  moral  is  then  to  affirm  that  the 
state  of  our  body  can  modify  our  ideas, 
our  sentiments,  the  condition  of  our  soul. 

Inversely,  if  we  admit  the  influence  of  the 
mind  over  the  body  that  is  declaring  that 
the  mental  representations  which  we  make, 
[4] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


the  feelings  which  animate  us,  can  influence 
the  body  and  modify  the  functions  of  its 
organs. 

My  object  is,  before  all,  to  show  the 
influence  of  the  mind  over  the  body,  but 
to  understand  it  better,  it  is  necessary  to 
examine  the  matter  inversely  and  analyze 
fully  the  influence  of  the  physical  over  the 
mental. 

The  dependence  of  the  soul  upon  the 
body  commences  in  the  cradle  and  finishes 
only  in  the  grave. 

By  the  fact  of  heredity  and  of  atavism 
we  are  bom  already  influenced  in  a cer- 
tain direction;  we  enter  this  world  more 
or  less  well  endowed.  That  is  a heritage 
which  we  are  obliged  to  accept  without 
liability  to  debts  beyond  the  assets  inher- 
ited and  during  all  our  existence  we  shall 
live  only  on  this  capital  and  the  interest 
which  we  shall  know  how  to  draw  from 
it  by  a wise  administration. 

There  are  unhappy  beings  who  are 
1 5 3 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


bom  idiots;  their  brain  is  arrested  in  its 
development,  deformed,  and  it  is  with 
infinite  trouble  that  the  devoted  educators 
succeed  in  developing  in  these  poor  crea- 
tures some  manifestations  of  intelligence. 

In  a less  degree  the  cerebral  malady  is 
shown  by  imbecility.  Less  advanced  still 
it  produces  these  states  of  mental  want  of 
balance  which  often  become  more  exag- 
gerated in  successive  generations  and  tend 
to  a degeneracy  of  the  family. 

One  willingly  recognizes  that  our  intel- 
lectual faculties  are  controlled  even  by  the 
formation  of  our  brain.  We  say  of  a 
man  who  manifests  a superior  intelligence 
that  he  has  a well-organized  head.  We 
suppose  him  to  have  a well-developed 
brain,  working  easily,  capable  of  regular 
work,  of  logical  reflection.  There  are 
people  who  have  memory,  others  who 
have  imagination ; some  work  with  facility, 
others  distinguish  themselves  by  their  per- 
severance. 

S6J 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


We  fully  understand  that  if  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  cultivate  these  qualities  to  a cer- 
tain extent  or  to  allow  them  to  become 
useless  from  want  of  practise,  they  are 
given  to  us  after  all  at  birth. 

One  forgets  too  often  that  it  is  absolutely 
the  same  with  moral  qualities. 

From  the  first  years  of  life;  before 
educational  influences  have  been  able  to 
exert  themselves;  before  the  powerful 
contagion  of  example  has  been  felt;  we 
surprise  in  children  the  germs  of  future 
moral  qualities  and  faults. 

One  child  is,  from  the  beginning  of  his 
life,  docile  and  sweet,  sensible  and  good; 
another  is  rebellious  and  hard,  indifferent, 
or  even  cruel.  Egotism  and  tendency  to 
falsehood  often  manifest  themselves  very 
early.  The  child  can  not  yet  reason,  we 
dare  not  speak  to  it  of  responsibility  yet, 
and  already  we  see  in  him  the  often  indel- 
ible taint  of  heredity,  the  innate  moral 
blemish. 


ill 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 

Often  the  cerebral  imperfection  extends 
itself  to  both  the  intelligence  and  the  moral 
sentiment;  the  subject  is  as  little  intel- 
ligent as  he  is  vicious.  On  the  other  hand, 
one  sees  poor  creatures  who  are  disin- 
herited in  an  intellectual  point  of  view, 
but  who  present  the  touching  contrast  of 
a good  heart,  of  a quick  sensibility  to  affec- 
tion which  renders  them  sympathetic. 
Finally,  much  more  often  than  we  think, 
the  most  brilliant  gifts  of  intelligence  are 
matched  to  a total  absence  of  moral  feel- 
ing. The  moral  fool,  or  rather  the  fool 
of  feeble  morality,  exists.  He  can  domi- 
nate by  the  brightness  of  his  cold  intelli- 
gence, by  his  indomitable  energy,  by  his 
imperturbable  cold  blood,  but  his  intel- 
ligence is  temporary,  fragmentary,  it  will 
not  allow  him  to  see  the  difference  between 
good  and  evil.  In  spite  of  education  these 
notions  are  totally  strange  to  him.  As 
there  are  persons  entirely  destitute  of  all 
musical  feeling,  for  whom  music  is  only 
[8] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


the  most  disagreeable  of  noises,  there  are 
beings  who  have  never  felt  the  impulse  of 
goodness,  whose  heart  has  never  beat 
with  a noble  idea.  These  are  the  most 
unendowed,  no  matter  what  enviable  sit- 
uation they  may  occupy  in  the  world. 

And  let  us  never  forget  that  this  intel- 
lectual and  moral  heritage  is  physical  in 
its  essence.  It  is  not  finished  qualities  or 
faults  which  procreation  transmits.  We 
are  not  bom  poets,  musicians,  scientists, 
statesmen;  we  are  not  predestined  at  the 
first  onset  to  be  a great  man  or  a criminal. 
We  are  bom  simply  with  a brain  more  or 
less  well  organized,  more  or  less  apt  to  act 
under  the  influence  of  the  stimulus  which 
will  come  to  it  and  which  will  keep  up  a 
constant  play  of  the  association  of  ideas 
which  we  call  the  life  of  the  soul.  I will 
go  much  further  and  say  that  all  thought 
being  necessarily  bound  to  the  physical 
or  the  chemical  phenomena  of  which  the 
brain  is  the  seat,  the  slavery  is  still  more 
[9] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


complete  and  that  all  the  most  elevated 
manifestations  of  thought,  all  our  intel- 
lectual and  moral  life,  depend  above  all 
on  the  state  of  our  brain. 

It  will  appear  to  you,  perhaps,  that  this 
theory  is  acceptable  only  to  the  most  abso- 
lute partizans  of  materialism.  Without 
doubt  the  doctrinal  materialists,  the  posi- 
tivists, will  be  the  first  to  give  their  adhe- 
sion to  it. 

But  it  is  not  the  metaphysical  ques- 
tion which  I wish  to  dwell  upon  here.  It 
matters  little  to  me  whether  one  considers 
thought  as  the  product  of  cerebral  activity 
or  as  a convinced  spiritualist  one  perceives 
in  the  brain  only  the  marvelous  instrument 
which  the  immaterial  soul  uses  to  mani- 
fest itself.  These  questions  are  impos- 
sible to  solve. 

In  both  cases,  mark  well,  the  defective 
working  of  the  brain  is  shown  by  troubled 
thoughts.  We  are,  on  reckoning  up,  all 
obliged  to  admit  the  constant  concomitance 
1 10  1 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


of  the  acting  of  conscience  and  of  brain 
work,  in  other  words,  psychophysical 
parallelism. 

I shall  easily  find  among  the  protestant 
philosophers,  defenders  of  free  will,  writers 
who  remark  this  slavery  of  the  soul  to  the 
body,  but  their  testimony  may  appear  sus- 
picious; it  is  tainted  with  too  much  free- 
dom of  examination.  I prefer  to  turn  to 
one  who  represents  Catholic  orthodoxy. 
Listen  to  what  a French  prelate,  Mgr. 
d’Hulst,  says  on  this  subject  in  his  “Phil- 
osophical Medley” — “We  have  all  been 
educated  in  admiration  of  a formula  of 
which  M.  de  Bonald  is  the  author,  but  of 
which  Descartes  is  the  inspirer:  ‘The 
soul  is  an  intelligence  served  by  the  organs.’ 
The  least  fault  of  this  definition  is  that  it 
is  very  incomplete.  The  intelligence  is 
served  by  the  organs;  served,  yes,  without 
doubt,  but  is  subjected  also. 

“It  is  true  that  every  master  of  a house 
is  subjected  to  his  servants  more  or  less. 

Ln] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


But  in  consenting  to  serve  himself  he  could 
free  himself  from  this  dependence. 

“The  soul  has  not  this  resource.  And 
the  dependence  goes  further.  If  the  ques- 
tion was  only  of  the  inferior  part  of  the 
psychical  life,  sensation,  that  is  the  feel- 
ings of  the  body,  one  could  say:  The  soul 
depends  on  the  organs  in  all  the  operations 
which  have  their  origin  outside.  But  in 
its  own  life,  its  intellectual  working,  it  is 
mistress  and  not  servant,  it  does  not  de- 
pend upon  the  body.  Unhappily  for  the 
theory,  this  is  not  always  true.  Even  in 
the  most  simple  act  of  intelligence  there 
is  a necessary  concurrence;  a concurrence 
of  the  organs  which  is  important.  The 
brain  works  in  the  skull  of  a thinker. 
There  are  vibrations  of  the  cells  in  the 
cortical  bed  of  the  brain ; there  is,  to  render 
these  possible,  a sanguinary  afflux  as  much 
more  abundant  as  the  intellectual  effort 
is  more  intense ; there  is  a rise  in  the  tem- 
perature which  results  from  it;  there  is 
[12] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


finally  a combustion  of  organic  matter. 
The  more  the  soul  thinks  the  more  the 
brain  bums  its  own  substance.  It  is  thus 
that  head  work  as  much  as  muscular  work 
gives  rise  to  a sensation  of  hunger. 

“ Finally,  if  this  work  is  excessive  there  is 
fatigue,  pain  in  the  head;  and  if  this  ex- 
cess is  prolonged  it  will  lead  to  a morbid 
condition,  sometimes  even  to  material 
lesions  which  autopsy  can  recognize  after 
death  and  which  will  be  the  terrible  signa- 
ture of  the  animal  nature  which  does  not 
permit  one  to  forget  it  when  one  wishes  to 
do  the  work  of  the  mind.”  We  know  not 
how  this  language  can  be  improved. 

But,  you  say,  this  slavery  is  revolting. 
What!  all  that  we  are,  mentally  and  moral- 
ly, depends  upon  the  material  state  of 
our  brain?  Yes!  Every  state  of  the  soul 
supposes  a cerebral  correspondence,  and 
whatever  may  be  the  metaphysical  doc- 
trines to  which  we  wish  to  attach  our- 
selves, the  soul  remains  pinned  to  the 
l i3i 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


body  during  all  the  continuance  of  our 
existence. 

Not  only  are  we  bom  already  endowed 
with  certain  good  qualities  or  deformed  by 
nature,  but  we  bear,  however  slackly,  to  an 
advanced  age  the  yoke  of  heredity;  then 
we  may  hope  to  have  escaped  from  it. 

It  is  thus  that  one  sees  foolishness  or 
epilepsy,  which  also  leads  to  mental  trou- 
ble, attack  successively,  at  the  same  age, 
members  of  the  same  family.  Without 
appreciable  cause,  other  than  that  of  an 
inborn  predisposition  which  has  been  la- 
tent, one  suddenly  sees  an  intelligence  fail 
which  appeared  to  be  developing  normally. 
Illness  of  the  body  modifies  the  condition 
of  the  soul,  we  suffer  from  the  delirium  of 
fever,  we  succumb  mentally  under  the  in- 
fluence of  poison.  Heat,  cold,  air  pure  or 
vitiated,  barometrical  pressure,  the  food 
which  we  assimilate  all  act  upon  our  phys- 
ical and  moral  condition. 

Think  of  the  state  of  mind  which  alco- 
[ h] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


holic  intoxication  creates  and  you  will 
instantly  understand  the  trouble  which  the 
intoxication  of  the  cerebral  tissue  produces 
in  the  thoughts,  in  the  spirit. 

A typical  example  of  this  action  of  the 
body  upon  the  mind  is  furnished  to  us  by 
the  destruction  of  the  thyroid  gland.  In 
other  times  in  operations  for  goiter,  which 
have  become  so  frequent  to-day,  the  whole 
gland  was  removed,  upon  the  pretext  that 
it  was  useless.  It  has  become  necessary 
to  retract  this  opinion.  It  has  happened 
that  people  who  were  normal  before  have 
fallen  after  the  operation  into  a state  of 
imbecility.  Not  only  are  the  features 
swollen,  the  forehead  wrinkled,  the  lips 
heavy,  the  face  even  taking  a senile  look; 
but  the  intelligence  has  suffered  and  the 
patients  have  fallen  into  a state  of  intel- 
lectual torpor.  The  same  condition  can 
occur  without  an  operation  by  the  atrophy 
of  the  thyroid  gland. 

Now  in  both  cases  we  can  give  back  to 
[15] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


the  patient  his  intelligence,  his  vivacity  of 
spirit,  by  making  him  eat  the  thyroid 
gland  of  a sheep  or  take  pills  made  of  the 
extract  of  that  gland!  We  can  plunge 
him  again  into  idiocy  by  stopping  his  pills 
and  render  him  intelligent  anew  by  giv- 
ing him  a prescription  for  the  chemist. 
This  will  demonstrate  the  influence  of  the 
body  over  the  mind  so  long  as  this  influence 
has  need  of  being  proved. 

Are  we  then  condemned  always  to  sub- 
mit to  the  yoke  of  heredity  and  the  action 
of  physical  agents,  as  a tree  which  shall 
be  not  only  well  grown  or  stunted  accord- 
ing to  the  germ  which  has  given  it  birth, 
but  must  suffer  also  from  bad  temperature  ? 
Can  we  not  here  call  in  the  intelligent 
gardener  who  will  correct  the  first  devia- 
tion of  the  branches,  put  them  en  espalier , 
and  execute  the  grafting  which  will  im- 
prove the  fruit  ? 

Yes,  we  can  combat  to  a certain  degree 
the  effects  of  fatal  heredity  and  escape  the 

[16] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


noxious  influence  of  exterior  agencies.  We 
shall  accomplish  this  by  the  education  of 
ourselves. 

I have  said,  without  hesitation,  the 
education  of  ourselves  because  I esteem 
this  personal  culture  to  be  the  most  effica- 
cious. But  it  is  necessary  to  understand 
it. 

More  or  less  imperfect  from  birth,  we, 
mentally,  can  not  be  our  own  educator  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word. 

It  is  by  intercourse  with  our  kind,  by 
the  ideas  which  they  suggest  to  us,  that  we 
can  correct  our  faults  and  cultivate  our 
good  qualities. 

We  have,  it  is  true,  the  sensation  of 
originating  our  thoughts,  of  ourselves  de- 
ciding the  regulating  of  our  conduct.  But 
, take  care!  The  mental  capital  which  we 
attribute  to  ourselves,  from  which  we  draw 
interest,  comes  to  us  from  others,  from  the 
education  which  we  have  received,  not  only 
from  voluntary  education,  that  of  the  fam- 
[17] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


ily,  that  of  the  school,  that  of  the  priest, 
but  the  insensible  education  which  is  given 
by  the  world  and  by  life. 

It  is  sometimes  good,  sometimes  bad, 
and  it  is  upon  this  foundation  of  borrowed 
ideas  that  all  the  scaffolding  of  our  thoughts 
and  our  sentiments  is  built. 

If  one  reflects  well  upon  it,  all  education 
can  be  looked  upon  as  an  influence  of  the 
mind  over  the  body.  Without  doubt  there 
are  ideas  which  we  transmit  to  our  fellow- 
creatures  by  words,  by  looks ; these  are  the 
ideas  which  we  store  up  under  the  empire 
of  foreign  suggestions.  But,  as  every  one 
knows,  all  thought  is  accompanied  by  ma- 
terial phenomena  in  the  brain;  it  is  in  the 
main  a physical  change  which  determines 
mental  representations. 

Education  kneads  our  brain,  if  we  can 
use  such  an  expression,  and  renders  it 
apt  to  respond  to  favorable  influences. 
The  materialism  of  the  ultimate  phenom- 
ena is  symbolized  by  the  popular  expression 
[ 1 8 ] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


which  makes  us  say,  apropos  of  a moral 
habit,  “ The  step  has  been  taken.” 

But,  in  expressing  this  idea,  I have  not 
wished  to  enter  upon  delicate  psycholog- 
ical analyses.  I have  a practical  end  in 
view  and  the  question  which  presents  it- 
self is  this: 

Can  we,  by  means  of  the  mind,  by  our 
moral  deportment,  escape  illness,  prevent 
certain  inborn  functional  troubles,  dimin- 
ish or  suppress  those  which  already  exist? 

To  this  question  I boldly  answer  “Yes.” 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  I set  aside  surgi- 
cal maladies,  infectious  diseases,  and  those 
innumerable  organic  affections  which  are 
the  fruit  either  of  heredity  or  unfavorable 
hygienic  conditions.  Against  these  evils 
wdrich  torment  humanity  we  can  do  al- 
most nothing  through  the  mind.  We  can 
combat  them  by  the  ordinary  means  of 
medicine,  by  drugs,  by  physical  treatment. 
We  can  finally  oppose  them  with  a noble 
stoicism,  but  that  is  all. 

[19] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


But  we  often  suffer  from  functional  train 
bles  which  are  not  caused  by  organic 
changes  and  in  the  development  of  which 
the  mind  plays  an  immense  part.  Even 
in  the  course  of  purely  bodily  illness  there 
is  often  the  mediation  of  psychical  symp- 
toms which  depend  above  all  on  the  con- 
dition of  our  spirit.  Man,  in  short,  suf- 
fers quite  differently  from  the  animals  and 
he  suffers  more  than  they.  He  does  not 
content  himself,  so  to  speak,  with  brute 
suffering  which  is  adequate  for  the  phys- 
ical disorders;  he  increases  them  by  im- 
agination, aggravates  them  by  fear,  keeps 
them  up  by  his  pessimistic  reflections. 

It  is  man  who  has  the  sad  privilege  of 
being  tormented  by  nervous  maladies,  by 
the  nervosity  which  is  so  frequent  to-day. 
He  alone  knows  in  illness  mental  suffering 
in  its  highest  degree  and  if  he  feels  it  with 
such  acuteness  it  is  not  only  because  his 
spiritual  life  permits  him  to  feel  it,  which 
would  be  onlv  a superiority,  but  it  is  he 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


himself  who  creates,  or  at  least  exagger- 
ates, this  suffering. 

Since  we  seek,  above  all,  means  to  fight 
morally  against  illness,  we  must  recognize 
the  enemy  and  specify  the  means  by  which 
exterior  influences,  physical  as  well  as 
moral,  can  act  upon  us  and  lead  to  func- 
tional troubles. 

We  are  particularly  vulnerable  in  two 
places,  our  sensibility  and  our  emotion- 
alism. I have  already  said  that  outside 
agents  act  upon  us.  Too  intense  cold, 
above  all  when  damp,  paralyzes  us,  afflicts 
us;  heat  when  it  passes  a certain  degree 
strikes  us  down.  A too  brilliant  light,  a 
too  intense  and  long-continued  noise,  tires 
us,  enervates  us.  Our  exposed  nerves 
bring  us  a crowd  of  painful  or  sad  sensa- 
tions. Fatigue,  whether  corporal,  intel- 
lectual, or  emotional,  reaches  the  nerve 
centers  and  creates  morbid  conditions  of 
which  the  mental  symptoms  are  sadness 
and  sullenness. 


[21] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 

If  these  influences  were  purely  bodily 
they  would  be  incurable  and  we  should 
passively  suffer  all  the  consequences.  But 
it  is  here  that  the  mistake  is  made.  Yes, 
by  means  of  our  senses  the  ambient  me- 
dium acts  upon  us;  but  if-these  sensations 
take  such  a reality,  such  a power,  if  they 
determine  far-distant  actions,  it  is  above 
all  because  of  the  attention  which  we  be- 
stow upon  them.  It  is  by  thinking  of  it 
that  we  render  more  fatal  this  influence 
of  surrounding  mediums;  it  is  then  by 
thought  that  we  can  fight  against  it,  dimin- 
ish it  in  place  of  exaggerating  it. 

I must  remark,  first  of  all,  that  the 
diverse  sensations  which  our  five  senses 
furnish  us  with,  sight,  hearing,  taste,  smell, 
and  touch,  exist  in  all  their  plenitude  only 
thanks  to  the  intervention  of  the  attentive 
rnind. 

One  well  says  that  when  a ray  of  light 
penetrates  to  the  eye  we  feel  a sensation  of 
light,  that  we  perceive  a sound  when  the 

[22] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


tympanum  is  put  in  vibration.  All  that 
is  true,  but  on  condition  that  our  attention 
is  awakened. 

Among  the  thousands  of  noises  which 
in  one  day  reach  our  ears  there  are  many 
of  which  our  understanding  takes  no  cog- 
nizance. Has  it  never  happened  to  you  to 
answer  some  one  only  the  second,  third, 
or  even  fourth  question  which  has  been 
addressed  to  you  in  a loud  and  intelligible 
voice  ? 

Yes;  you  were  distrait,  preoccupied 
with  something  else,  you  have  not  heard. 
We  often  look  for  an  object  and  do  not  see 
it,  altho  it  is  before  us  and  its  image  may 
have  been  ten  times  reflected  in  our  eyes. 
When  you  are  before  the  glass  door  of  a 
library  a crowd  of  books  and  objects  of 
art  are  in  your  field  of  vision.  A photo- 
graphic camera  put  in  your  place  would 
register  all  these  details  in  an  instant.  As 
for  you,  you  have  only  seen  the  romance 
of  the  day  and  an  interesting  engraving. 

[23] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


All  the  rest  has  struck  your  eye,  but  has  not 
reached  your  understanding.  In  order  to 
see,  to  hear,  to  feel,  it  is  necessary  to  look, 
to  listen,  to  give  attention.  If  the  light  is 
brilliant,  if  the  noise  is  intense,  the  pain 
severe,  the  attention  is  immediately  awa- 
kened. But  the  more  moderate  impres- 
sions can  be  effaced  and  remain  ignored 
if  we  pay  no  attention  to  them.  This 
notion  that  one  can  overlook  a sensation 
even  if  the  cause  which  produced  it  remains 
is  not  new  to  the  public;  one  now  and 
then  hears  the  picturesque  expression  of 
it  in  popular  language.  I mount  in  wipter 
upon  the  tramway;  a workman  jumps 
upon  it  crying,  “Oh!  how  cold  my  feet 
are!  They  hurt  me!”  “Oh!  bah!”  the 
conductor  answers  energetically,  “you  must 
not  think  about  them.” 

And  in  another  world;  at  the  five  o’clock 
tea  the  ladies  rebel  against  the  tyranny  of 
the  Paris  fashions  which  in  summer  impose 
upon  them  the  carrying  of  boas  and  ruches; 

[24] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


they  find  the  heat  intolerable.  “Ah,  well,” 
says  a pretty  woman,  “I  do  not  agree  with 
you.  I look  in  the  mirror  and  if  the  boa  is 
becoming  I am  no  longer  warm!” 

Reflect,  analyze  your  own  sensations, 
and  you  will  see  that  it  is  not  rare  for  a 
sensation  to  disappear  because  the  atten- 
tion is  elsewhere.  Very  painful  feelings, 
even  very  sad  ones,  can  thus  vanish  under 
the  influence  of  a powerful  distraction  by 
the  conviction  that  they  do  not  exist. 
Every  one  knows  that  when  going  to  the 
dentist’s  certain  persons  suddenly  lose  their 
toothache.  I often  see  patients  who  ac- 
knowledge to  me  that  their  headache  dis- 
appears when  they  receive  an  agreeable 
visit.  I never  conclude  from  that  that 
their  suffering  is  slight  or  their  pain  imag- 
inary. No ; the  pain  is  really  the  outcome 
of  a psychical  phenomenon,  therefore 
cerebral,  and  all  change  in  the  state  of  mind 
can  modify  the  ultimate  phenomenon  of 
conscious  perception.  We  do  not  feel 
hsl 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


blows  when  we  are  the  prey  of  violent 
anger,  and  we  see  persons  submit  to  pain- 
ful operations,  drawing  teeth,  for  instance, 
because  it  has  been  suggested  to  them  that 
under  the  influence  of  a wash  of  cocaine 
they  would  feel  no  pain.  On  the  other 
hand,  by  giving  our  attention,  by  fixing  it, 
we  are  able  to  seize  feeble  impressions,  to 
make  them  more  distinct,  as  if  we  had 
used  a magnifying  glass.  It  is  even  pos- 
sible to  create  these  sensations,  to  feel 
them  through  pure  mental  representation. 
We  have  often  said  a mental  representa- 
tion is  a beginning  of  a real  sensation,  it  is 
even  an  act  commenced.  It  is  sufficient  to 
be  intimately  persuaded  that  a phenomenon 
is  about  to  be  produced,  that  we  are  about 
to  see  or  hear  something,  for  us  to  feel  the 
sensation  with  all  the  intensity  of  reality. 

It  is  thus  that  people  who  are  normal 
in  other  respects  feel  strange  sensations  in 
touching  an  electrical  machine  even  when 
it  is  not  charged. 


[26] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


One  has  been  able  to  make  students  who 
are  working  with  the  microscope  see  things 
which  are  not  there  but  which  one  tells 
them  are  there.  Experiments  sometimes 
improve  upon  a great  scale.  One  hundred 
and  twenty  years  ago  Mesmer  made  the 
great  ladies  of  the  highest  Parisian  society 
experience  the  most  strange  sensations 
and  provoked  the  most  different  functional 
troubles.  How?  he  made  them  seize 
metallic  bars  which  came  out  from  a so- 
called  magnetic  tub!  It  was  the  imagina- 
tion, the  preconceived  idea  which  gave 
birth  to  the  sensation  and  led  to  trouble 
in  the  action  of  the  organs. 

We  are  easily  made  victims  by  these 
auto-suggestions,  as  they  are  called  to-day, 
when  we  have  some  plausible  reason  to 
believe  them.  I have  often  felt  heat  ra- 
diating from  a stove  which  I was  passing. 
I had  understood  that  it  was  heated ; when 
touched  it  was  cold.  There  are  people 
who  have  felt  the  oil  and  smelled  the  odor 
Ini 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


of  petroleum  when  lifting  a new  lamp 
which  has  never  contained  any. 

One  can  recall  thousands  of  examples 
of  these  errors  of  the  senses  which  show 
the  influence  of  imagination,  the  incred- 
ible power  of  mental  representations. 

The  success  of  hypnotism  abundantly 
demonstrates  this  influence. 

Physicians  of  hospitals  which  give  them- 
selves up  to  this  class  of  practise  can  ac- 
tually put  to  sleep  eighty  to  ninety  per  cent, 
of  their  patients  by  pure  verbal  suggestion, 
by  the  following  simple  words  pronounced 
with  convincing  power,  “Sleep,  sleep, 
sleep.” 

One  can  often  in  this  hypnotic  sleep, 
where  credulity  is  increased  by  the  sup- 
pression of  the  control  of  reason,  suggest 
to  the  subjects  all  sorts  of  sensations: 
make  them  shiver  with  cold,  perspire  with 
heat,  make  them  tremble  before  a mena- 
cing lion,  recoil  with  fear  before  an  imag- 
inary rising  sea.  One  can  paralyze  his 
[28] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 

tongue,  his  arms,  his  legs,  fix  his  feet  to 
the  earth  by  suggesting  to  him  that  he 
can  not  pass  the  line  which  has  been  drawn 
with  chalk  upon  the  floor.  Even  in  a 
waking  state  we  can  provoke  analogous 
phenomena.  It  suffices  that  the  person 
upon  whom  we  operate  should  be  at  the 
time  in  a condition  of  mind  which  responds 
to  suggestion  and  persuasion.  This  state 
of  mind  may  be  natural  and  reasonable. 
For  example:  I saw, at  Nancy,  a workman 
to  whom  Professeur  Bemheim  proposed 
to  employ  hypnotism  to  soothe  rheumatic 
pains.  “I  am  willing,”  the  man  simply 
said;  “I  do  not  know  what  hypnotism  is; 
but  my  comrades  have  told  me  that  it 
will  do  me  good.”  In  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye  he  was  asleep,  in  the  happy  conviction 
that  having  gone  to  sleep  he  would  awake 
having  received  great  good  from  that  pro- 
ceeding! Another  example  of  suggestion 
in  a wide-awake  condition.  A young 
soldier  presented  himself  at  the  hospital; 

[29] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


the  professor  examined  him,  verified  a 
sore  throat,  and  gave  him  a gargle.  Then, 
desirous  of  showing  his  class  the  power 
of  verbal  suggestion,  he  takes  the  young 
man’s  arm  and  says  to  him  point  blank, 
“Since  when  has  your  arm  been  para- 
lyzed?” The  astonished  patient  declares 
positively  that  there  is  nothing  the  matter 
with  his  arm.  But  the  professor  stands 
firm.  “See,  gentlemen,”  says  he  to  the  stu- 
dents, “ here  is  a young  man  who  has  been 
attacked  by  a rare  affection,  pyschic  par- 
alysis of  the  right  arm.  You  see  how  this 
limb  hangs,  without  life,  by  the  side  of  the 
body  and  falls  back  again  when  it  is  lifted,” 
and  joining  the  action  to  the  word  he  raised 
the  arm,  which  really  fell  back  like  a club. 
The  arm  was  really  and  truly  paralyzed 
and  it  was  necessary  next  day  to  restore 
it  by  inverse  suggestion,  which  was  quite 
as  easy. 

Numerous  examples  of  auto-suggestions 
have  been  cited  which  show  how  a sensa- 
[30] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


tion  can  be  created  by  pure  mental  repre- 
sentation. I will  cite  one  of  them  which 
is  typical. 

A healthy  man  is  present  at  an  operation 
performed  upon  his  brother,  which  con- 
sists of  straightening,  when  under  chloro- 
form, a twisted  knee.  At  the  moment  in 
which,  under  the  treatment  of  the  surgeon, 
the  joint  straightens  itself  with  a snap,  who 
is  it  who  feels  the  pain?  It  is  not  the 
patient,  plunged  in  sleep,  but  his  brother, 
and  he  retains  this  painful  affection  for 
a year! 

When  one  has  fully  grasped  the  power 
of  fancy  one  understands  how  nervous 
ills  can  arise  from  the  contagion  of 
example.  In  the  middle  ages  it  was 
seen  that  nearly  all  the  women  of  a 
town  fell  into  hysterical  crises  and  unan- 
imously gave  themselves  up  to  foolish 
dances. 

Even  to-day  we  see  hysteria  under  the 
form  of  a kind  of  dance  of  St.  Guy  invade 

[ 3 1 1 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


boarding-schools  for  little  girls.  It  has 
been  seen  at  Basle  and  at  Baden  within  a 
few  years.  In  the  settlement  of  Kehrsatz 
thirty  young  girls  were  taken  with  pains 
in  the  joints  and  convulsive  movements 
of  the  arms  and  legs.  It  was  necessary 
to  isolate  them,  to  separate  them  from 
each  other,  in  order  to  stop  this  epidemic 
of  nervousness. 

You  all  know  the  contagion  of  yawning 
and  of  the  involuntary  grimaces  which  our 
children  make  when  they  are  present  at 
the  tricks  of  a clown  or  in  a theater  of 
marionettes.  They  live  through  all  the 
scenes,  they  feel  the  sensations  so  fully 
that  they  spontaneously  translate  them  by 
gesture  and  mimicry. 

Even  we,  adults  of  sedate  mind,  shed 
tears  at  the  theater  when  we  know  that  all 
which  passes  before  our  eyes  is  fictitious, 
imaginary,  and  that  we  need  not  pity  the 
fate  of  the  heroes.  Our  voices  tremble 
when  reading  an  affecting  page,  even  when 
£32] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


it  is  from  a work  of  pure  imagination; 
even  when  the  recital  has  no  historical 
foundation  and  awakens  no  retrospective 
sympathy. 

This  human  suggestibility,  already  so 
marked  when  it  regards  pure  sensation, 
becomes  extreme  as  soon  as  emotion  is 
joined  to  it.  Fear  establishes  itself,  pessi- 
mistic thoughts  crop  up,  and  it  is  then  that 
one  verifies  apropos  of  the  least  indisposi- 
tion the  enormous  influence  of  the  mind, 
not  only  over  the  sensations,  but  also  over 
the  organic  functions. 

There  are  no  organs  which  escape  this 
influence,  for  all  the  organs  have  nerves 
and  are  in  intimate  relation  with  the 
cerebral  center. 

Not  only  tears  (the  habitual  means  of 
emotional  expression)  can  flow,  but  the 
heart  beats  more  quickly  or  more  irregu- 
larly, the  breathing  is  accelerated,  becomes 
panting,  the  face  pales  or  flushes;  the 
appetite  goes,  the  digestive  functions  are 
t33l 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


deranged,  and  we  know  the  effect  upon  the 
intestines  of  a.  child,  even  upon  those  of  a 
soldier,  which  the  well-known  sentiment 
of  fear  can  have. 

Emotion  as  a river  which  has  broken 
its  bounds  spreads  itself  everywhere  in 
different  torrents  and  can  carry  trouble 
into  the  working  of  all  our  organs. 

At  the  same  time  emotion  fatigues.  It 
does  not  only  create  functional  trouble  by 
the  vivacity  of  the  mental  representations 
to  which  it  leads;  it  engenders  also,  by 
nervous  exhaustion,  real  sensations,  dis- 
agreeable or  painful,  which  furnish  new 
food  to  the  unquiet  mind  of  the  patient, 
give  rise  to  other  fears,  other  vexatious 
auto-suggestions. 

One  can  thus  understand  how  a passing 
and  trivial  sensation  which  should  have 
been  neglected  and  would  have  disap- 
peared if  one  had  voluntarily  distracted 
his  attention,  persists,  increases  in  the 
mind  of  the  person,  leads  to  unhealthy 
[34] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


fear,  and  gives  birth  to  troubles  which  are 
disproportioned  to  the  first  cause. 

There  are  no  imaginary  sick  people; 
they  all  suffer  and  are  worthy  of  our  com- 
passion. But  there  are  legions  of  these 
sick  in  whom  the  most  careful  examina- 
tion can  verify  no  physical  trouble,  to  whom 
one  can  deliver  a favorable  certificate  for 
the  life-insurance  company,  and  who  during 
months  and  years,  and  often  all  through 
life,  suffer  martyrdom  and  present  the  most 
curious  functional  troubles. 

It  is  owing  to  their  sensibility  and  their 
exaggerated  emotionalism  that  they  must 
go  through  a life  of  infirmity. 

Such  an  one  who  has  felt  a weight  in 
his  stomach,  has  seen  his  tongue  coated, 
believes  himself  afflicted  with  a cancer, 
and  from  that  time  uneasy  and  fearful, 
he  experiences  all  the  subjective  symptoms 
of  that  disease.  It  is  often  difficult  to 
rescue  him  from  this  fixed  idea  which 
constitutes  all  the  disease. 

t35l 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


Nothing  is  more  frequent  than  to  see 
patients  who,  under  pretext  that  they  have 
a dilatation  of  the  stomach,  which  is  now 
the  fashionable  disease,  submit  for  years  to 
a painful  and  debilitating  regimen.  And 
this  dyspepsia  is  so  much  of  mental  origin, 
so  much  imaginary  in  its  mode  of  develop- 
ment, that  often  the  doctor  who  possesses 
a sufficient  gift  of  persuasion  can  gradu- 
ally restore  these  invalids  to  their  ordi- 
nary food.  It  is  the  same  with  the  working 
of  the  heart. 

A woman  is  taken,  no  one  knows  why, 
perhaps  under  the  empire  of  a forgotten 
nightmare,  with  palpitations.  She  has,  for 
for  example,  one  hundred  pulsations. 

Forthwith  she  asks  herself  what  is  the 
matter,  she  is  frightened,  fears  a mortal 
swoon;  if  unhappily  some  one  of  her 
family,  of  her  acquaintance,  has  died  of 
heart  disease  the  anxiety  appears  still 
more  justifiable.  The  family  circle  also 
becomes  frightened  and  agitated,  which 
[36] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 

is  not  tranquilizing  for  the  invalid.  Now 
as  emotion  suffices  to  make  the  heart  beat 
faster,  the  pulse  mounts  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty.  At  this  figure  the  anguish  is 
still  more  marked,  the  emotion  increases, 
and  the  pulse  reaches  one  hundred  and 
forty.  I have  seen  it  rise  to  two  hundred 
through  this  succession  of  increasing  emo- 
tions. Then  the  doctor  is  called  in,  often 
in  the  middle  of  the  night.  He  comes 
good-naturedly,  altho  sometimes  sorry 
to  have  been  awakened  out  of  his  sleep. 
He  examines  carefully,  questions,  feels 
the  pulse,  takes  the  temperature.  There 
is  no  organic  trouble,  only  the  nervous 
beating  of  the  heart.  He  gives  his  advice 
tranquilly,  supports  his  opinion  with  en- 
couraging examples,  affirms  that  there  is 
no  danger,  that  no  one  dies  of  this.  Little 
by  little  conversation  with  the  invalid  be- 
comes more  easy  and  cheerful,  pleasantry 
follows,  a smile  appears  upon  the  lips  of 
the  patient,  the  relations  become  calm,  and 
E37] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


if  the  doctor  has  well  filled  the  role  of  con 
soler  the  pulse  has  already  become  slower, 
the  agony  has  ceased,  and  the  patient  will 
sleep  for  the  rest  of  the  night  without  the 
necessity  for  awakening  the  chemist  at  the 
corner. 

Take  another  example.  A lady  suffers, 
through  the  action  of  an  impertinent  ser- 
vant, from  a sharp  contrariety.  Anger 
reaches  its  height  and  suddenly,  under 
the  influence  of  this  emotion,  her  legs 
give  way  under  her.  This  would  not  have 
happened  if  she  had  not  lost  her  head, 
but  she  was  fatigued,  perhaps  felt  out  of 
sorts;  she  could  not  control  herself  and 
at  once  thinks  that  she  is  really  paralyzed. 
If,  unhappily,  the  physician  who  sees  her 
does  not  know  how  to  dissipate  her  fears, 
to  strengthen  this  unsettled  will  power,  it  is 
all  over  with  her;  hysterical  paralysis  will 
be  established  and  may  last  for  months  and 
years.  I should  never  finish  if  I were  to 
particularize  all  the  numerous  apparently 
[38] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


physical  affections  which  arise  through 
psychical  means,  by  attention  concen- 
trated upon  oneself,  by  the  calling  into 
play  of  sensibility  and  emotionalism. 

These  maladies  are  sometimes  grave 
as  symptoms,  lasting,  and  often  lead  to 
the  unhappiness  of  the  invalids  and  their 
families. 

I do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  these  ner- 
vous affections  which  are  accessible  to 
mind-cure  are  more  frequent  than  bodily 
illnesses  and  that  great  progress  would  be 
made  in  the  public  health  if  by  a volun- 
tary influence  of  the  mind  over  the  body 
we  knew  how  to  stop  in  their  development 
these  strange  evils  which  are  more  mental 
than  physical. 

In  these  various  examples  I have  spoken 
only  of  one  emotion,  that  of  fear,  of  appre- 
hension which  is  insufficiently  justified 
by  some  unimportant  ailment.  There  are 
also  others. 

There  is  a form  of  exaggerated  emotion- 
[39] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 

alism  which  I must  point  out  to  you;  it 
is  that  which  consists  of  disquieting  one- 
self about  everything  and  nothing.  There 
are  beings  who  are  true  virtuosos  in  the 
art  of  making  the  lyre  of  the  emotions  vi- 
brate. Their  life  is  passed  in  tormenting 
themselves,  in  making  tragic  the  least  events 
of  their  life.  When  a lady,  for  example, 
is  endowed  with  this  grievous  impression- 
ability she  is  wasted  by  excitement  from 
morning  to  night  and  often  from  night  to 
morning.  On  awaking  she  is  in  a state 
of  anxious  agitation  which  opens  the  day; 
she  feels  herself  already  crushed  under  the 
weight  of  all  that  she  has  to  do  and  of  all 
that  she  will  have  to  bear;  she  suffers 
from  it  by  anticipation.  The  little  vexa- 
tions which  every  mistress  of  a house  has 
to  bear  are  not  for  her  simple  annoyances; 
they  are  catastrophes  and  the  morning  is 
already  full  of  them.  At  noon  one  of  the 
boys  has  not  returned.  In  place  of  sup- 
posing that  he  has  loitered  with  his  little 

[40] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


comrades  the  mother  gets  it  into  her  head 
that  he  has  been  run  over  by  a tram  car 
and  the  servant  must  go  and  look  for  him. 
During  this  time  the  soup  or  the  roast  is 
burned. 

If  the  husband,  also  unnerved  by  his 
work,  comes  home  a little  sullen  and  fault- 
finding, which  will  happen,  alas!  madame 
takes  offense.  In  the  afternoon  there  are 
new  emotions  apropos  of  a letter  in  which 
is  read  between  the  lines  that  which  is  not 
there,  or  because  of  a telegram  which  is 
opened  with  trembling  hands,  but  which 
proves  only  to  contain  some  insignificant 
news. 

At  the  end  of  the  day  the  unhappy 
woman  has  supported  twenty  sorrows 
which  were  only  imaginary,  but  emotion 
has  produced  them.  She  has  weakened  her 
nervous  system  in  spite  of  the  futility  of 
the  causes.  They  affect  her  sleep,  which 
is  troubled  by  painful  dreams.  The  in- 
valid rises  with  a heavy  head,  made  more 
UO 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


sensitive  by  fatigue,  still  more  incapable 
of  controlling  herself,  and  the  next  day  the 
interminable  succession  of  emotional  com- 
motions recommences. 

Think  to  what  a degree  this  weakness 
of  the  nerves  will  extend  when  to  all  that 
are  added  real  cares,  sad  events,  and  when 
incompatibility  of  temper  comes  to  trouble 
the  family  relations. 

Life  then  becomes  a hell  and  under 
these  influences  we  see  the  most  serious 
nervous  maladies  arise.  With  many  wom- 
en this  impressionability  takes  an  altru- 
istic character  which  partly  excuses  it 
and  represents  it  as  a good  quality. 

One  sees  mothers  always  anxious  about 
their  own,  their  husband  or  their  children, 
whose  breathing  they  listen  to.  The  senti- 
ment is  certainly  not  blamable  in  itself, 
but  it  is  disastrous  in  its  effects. 

Under  the  empire  of  emotion  one  loses 
self-possession,  renders  himself  ill,  and 
only  complicates  the  situation  in  which 
[42] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


he  is  placed.  Among  men  we  find  less 
often  the  slightly  puerile  emotionalism 
which  I have  described.  They  have  not 
the  multiplicity  of  little  duties  of  the  wom- 
an, neither  have  they  her  conscientious- 
ness in  fulfilling  them. 

As  to  altruism,  that  does  not  trouble 
them.  Men  often  love  their  ease,  enjoy- 
ment, the  money  which  procures  it,  and 
success.  But,  as  the  Chinese  say,  they 
easily  lose  countenance. 

The  least  difficulties,  real  or  imaginary, 
produce  discouragement.  A boy  has  been 
known  to  commit  suicide  after  failing  in 
an  examination  or  for  a slight  reprimand. 
Suicide  from  insufficient  moral  elasticity 
is  the  most  common  of  all.  This  despair 
can  spring  from  trifling  causes,  as  shown 
by  the  Parisian  family  which  had  recourse 
to  charcoal  fumes  (I  believe  several  years 
ago)  because  they  had  an  income  of  only 
twenty  thousand  francs,  unhappy  crea- 
tures ! 


1 43  3 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


Often  also  in  this  condition  of  egotisti- 
cal weakness  some  drink  and  others  take 
morphia.  They  hope  thus  to  find  strength, 
but  it  is  only  forgetfulness  which  they  find, 
and  under  the  influence  of  these  poisons 
they  hasten  their  mental  downfall. 

You  will  easily  understand  that  all  these 
nervous  victims  must  do  more  than  use 
medicaments  and  physical  methods  of 
treatment.  They  may,  in  some  cases,  have 
need  of  prolonged  repose,  but,  above  all, 
there  is  need  for  them,  as  for  well  people 
who  do  not  wish  to  become  nervous , of  a 
good  physical  and,  also  above  all,  mental 
hygiene.  Physical  hygiene  is  very  simple. 
It  consists  in  letting  oneself  live  well. 
Varied  food  is  necessary  for  man,  suffi- 
cient to  make  up  each  day  the  loss  entailed 
upon  the  human  machine  by  work.  En 
passant  I may  remark  that  the  importance 
of  meat  has  been  exaggerated.  We  gener- 
ally eat  too  much  of  it  and  it  would  be  well 
to  give  a larger  place  to  vegetable  food. 

f44] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


The  greatest  moderation  in  alcoholic 
drinks  is  imperative.  There  should  be  a 
just  proportion  of  work  and  healthy  amuse- 
ment, of  action  and  repose.  But  of  what 
use  are  these  commonplaces?  We  all 
know  very  well  what  are  the  rules  for  a 
good  life  and  if  we  do  not  follow  them  it 
is  sometimes  because  we  are  prevented  by 
our  duties,  but  more  often  because  the  pre- 
scriptions of  hygiene  oppose  our  passions. 
It  is  these  latter  which  render  so  difficult 
what  has  been  called  the  hygiene  of  the 
soul.  What  then  should  be  our  moral 
deportment  if  we  wish  to  escape  all  these 
maladies  which  arise  by  means  of  the 
mind? 

The  first  thing  necessary,  tho  this  is 
often  forgotten,  is  a good  constitution 
mentally.  Has  it  not  been  jestingly  said 
rather  apropos  of  the  bodily  health  that 
it  is  necessary  to  be  judicious  in  the  choice 
of  one’s  parents  ? 

My  advice  is  aimed  at  these  last.  The 
Nsl 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


parents  must  take  upon  themselves  the 
duty  of  watching  over  their  own  health 
and  not  ruin  it  by  wrong  habits  of  life, 
in  order  to  transmit  to  their  descendants 
a healthy  mind  in  a healthy  body. 

This  is  not  always  considered,  and  every 
day  we  see  the  sad  spectacle  of  children 
blemished  physically,  intellectually,  and 
morally  by  the  misconduct  of  their  parents, 
especially  by  alcoholism. 

A second  duty  imposed  upon  parents 
who  are  careful  of  the  future  of  their 
children  is  that  of  giving  them  a good 
education;  I do  not  say  instruction.  Now 
the  best  one  is  that  of  example.  The 
child  profits  little  from  lessons,  does  not 
relish  exhortations,  he  has  a logical  mind, 
and  actions  are  what  he  appreciates. 

In  this  domain  of  nervous  diseases  it 
is  easy  to  prove  the  contagion  of  example. 
We  see  little  girls  already  imitate  their 
nervous  father  or  hysterical  mother,  throw- 
ing themselves  upon  a sofa  at  the  slightest 

[46  j 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


fatigue  and  complaining  of  backache  and 
headache.  They  are  sensible  to  all  ex- 
terior influences,  can  not  take  food  which 
they  do  not  like,  and  become  unnerved 
like  their  mother.  They  play  so  well  the 
part  of  little  nervous  women  that  they 
are  caught  in  the  snare  and  become  so 
really.  Nervous  Parents,  think  of  this 
danger  of  moral  contagion! 

When  we  have  arrived  at  the  age  of 
reason  personal  education  begins  and  our 
greatest  task  is  to  retain  command  over 
ourselves.  It  is  necessary,  above  all,  for 
one  to  believe  in  his  good  health  and  his 
power  to  resist  morally  as  well  as  physically. 

As  soon  as  a man  believes  himself  to  be 
ill  he  is  so.  He  is  not  only  so  in  imagina- 
tion, be  becomes  so  really,  physically. 

All  those  which  have  been  justly  called 
the  unhappy  passions — fear,  inquietude, 
discouragement,  anger — lower  the  nervous 
tension  and,  as  all  organs  work  under 
the  influence  of  the  nervous  system,  they 
[47] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


can  all  suffer  from  the  rebound  of  our 
moral  feebleness. 

We  must  take  literally  the  popular  ex- 
pressions to  improve  bad  blood  or,  on  the 
contrary,  to  improve  good  blood.  When 
one  is  gay,  contented,  when  one  is  able  to 
believe  fully  in  his  good  health,  the  circu- 
lation improves,  the  nutritious  exchanges 
are  accelerated,  and  the  human  machine 
works  harmoniously.  On  the  contrary, 
when  one  doubts  his  strength,  it  diminishes 
and  all  the  organs  manifest  functional 
trouble,  as  in  an  electrical  circuit  where 
all  the  lamps  bum  badly  because  the  cur- 
rent has  lost  its  force. 

To  keep  this  sound  confidence  in  his 
own  health  it  is  necessary  not  to  disquiet 
oneself  with  little  ailments  and  hurts. 
The  human  body  is  so  complicated,  it 
submits  to  so  many  noxious  influences, 
that  it  can  not  work  one  day  without  some 
perceptible  grating  of  its  innumerable 
wheels.  It  is  necessary  to  know  how  to  say 
[483 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


“That  is  nothing.  It  will  pass.”  For 
never  forget  that  as  soon  as  our  attention, 
however  little  uneasy,  dwells  upon  a sensa- 
tion it  becomes  greater  ; if  we  know  how 
to  turn  awray  our  mind  from  it  it  will 
diminish!  One  can  truly  say  of  nervous 
ills,  fear  calls  them  forth,  gives  birth  to 
them.  It  is  with  nervous  diseases  as  with 
dogs — they  more  readily  attack  those  who 
fear  them. 

Without  doubt  this  tendency  to  neglect 
ills,  to  treat  them  with  scorn,  should  not 
be  carried  too  far;  that  would  be  to  risk 
letting  a serious  affection  develop  through 
want  of  care. 

This  stoicism  on  a small  scale  applies 
only  to  functional  troubles  which  we  under- 
stand and  of  which  we  admit  the  harm- 
lessness. In  doubt  it  would  be  well  to 
consult  a physician,  but  one  who  thinks, 
who  has  other  resources  than  drugs.  It 
is  for  him  to  say  whether  it  is  the  begin- 
ning  of  an  organic  malady  or  of  a func- 
[49] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


tional  trouble,  for  him  to  seek  the  origin 
which  is  often  psychological  and  to  give 
the  counsel  of  a friend. 

Many  nervous  symptoms  arise  under 
the  influence  of  fatigue.  Each  one  must 
learn  to  know  himself  and  to  fix  the  limits 
which  he  can  not  pass.  A need  of  repose 
can  become  evident.  But  it  is  also  neces- 
sary to  avoid  seeing  fatigue  through  the 
magnifying  glass  of  discouragement.  One 
should  know  how,  when  duties  present 
themselves,  to  shake  off  this  fatigue,  which 
is  often  more  mental  than  physical. 

People  who  suffer  have  often  a natural 
but  fatal  tendency  to  find  out  the  cause 
of  the  pain  which  they  feel  and  to  estab- 
lish the  relation  of  cause  and  effect  be- 
tween the  events  which  preceded  it  and  the 
suffering.  I truly  wish  this  was  logical, 
but  there  is  danger  in  it. 

When  the  mind  of  the  invalid  has  been 
struck  by  a succession  of  phenomena  he 
is  convinced  of  the  reality  of  the  link  which 
[50] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


he  has  established  and  will  await  with 
anxiety  the  expected  result.  Then,  as  I 
have  said,  the  anxious  and  expectant  atten- 
tion produces  such  vivid  mental  represen- 
tations that  functional  trouble  follows. 

The  history  of  nervousness  is  full  of 
facts  which  show  the  danger  of  these 
hasty  conclusions. 

Many  invalids  show’,  in  the  least  change 
of  weather,  such  sensitiveness  that  one 
can  not  prevent  the  conclusion  that  auto- 
suggestion is  the  most  manifest  cause  of 
this  sensibility. 

I often  see  invalids  wflio  can  not  stand 
the  presence  of  some  kinds  of  flowers  in 
the  room;  they  are  immediately  affected 
with  headache.  I have  always  succeeded 
in  persuading  these  ultra-sensitive  people 
to  the  contrary.  Ladies  have  also  been 
taken  ill  in  a drawing-room  and  attributed 
their  discomfort  to  a bouquet  without  dis- 
covering that  the  flowers  wrere  artificial ! 

I have  seen  men  take  cold  because  a 
[51J 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


neighbor  in  turning  the  pages  of  his  news- 
paper had  created  a current  of  air!  I have 
seen  a nervous  attack  produced  from 
taking  a glass  of  water  between  the  thumb 
and  forefinger!  Because  it  was  so  cold, 
if  you  please! 

It  is  necessary  to  understand  how  to 
protect  oneself  mentally  against  this  quite 
imaginary  sensitiveness.  We  should  know 
also  that  a brave  and  gay  spirit  allows  us 
to  resist  even  real  influences.  When  we 
have  high  spirits  we  feel  the  cold  less; 
we  suffer  from  it,  on  the  contrary,  when  we 
feel  out  of  sorts,  sad,  and  it  is  then  above 
all  that  it  can  exercise  its  deleterious  in- 
fluence. 

The  joyous  humor  of  a family  holiday 
or  of  a gay  banquet  permits  our  stomach 
to  digest  a mixed  repast  which  we  could 
never  undertake  in  ordinary  times  when 
our  being  is  affected  by  daily  preoccupa- 
tions. 

Our  physical  health,  our  resistance  to 
[52] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


illness  is  augmented  by  good  moral  con- 
trol. And  it  is  important  to  keep  and 
carefully  cultivate  this  moral  control  as 
a precious  possession.  In  the  first  place, 
one  must  believe  in  the  possibility  of  sup- 
porting, without  injury,  the  conditions  of 
life  in  which  we  are  placed. 

The  world  is  full  of  people  who  in  one 
way  or  another  are  persuaded  of  their 
want  of  power,  and  this  conviction  almost 
certainly  leads  to  real  want  of  strength. 

Look  at  all  those  unhappy  creatures  who, 
healthy  in  body,  can  not  support  the  winter 
in  our  country  and  believe  themselves 
obliged  to  take  refuge  on  the  Riviera! 
Others,  whose  heart  and  lungs  are  sound, 
can  not  breathe  on  the  plain  and  as  soon 
as  it  becomes  a little  warm  move  to  a 
mountain  spot.  There  are  some  who 
can  not  stand  the  noise  of  the  city,  others 
who  can  not  live  without  continual  worldly 
distraction. 

And,  unhappily,  it  is  not  only  the  privi- 
[53] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 

Ieged  in  point  of  fortune  who  lead  this 
wandering  life  and  make  their  health 
depend  only  on  their  surroundings.  We 
often  see  old  parents  who  have  worked 
hard  at  the  most  severe  tasks  bleed  them- 
selves from  four  veins,  as  the  saying  is, 
to  furnish  their  nervous  sons  and  hysteri- 
cal daughters  with  the  money  necessary 
for  their  continual  journeys.  And  our 
peasants,  our  servants  are  affected  also. 
There  are  some  who  can  not  bear  the  food 
of  the  family  they  serve;  others,  strong  in 
body,  who  must  be  spared  heavy  work. 
They  are  impressionable  and  whenever 
they  hear  a malady  spoken  of  they  at  once 
feel  all  the  symptoms  of  it. 

Still  worse,  I see  vigorous  butcher  boys, 
farm  hands,  peasants  who  it  seems  to  me 
would  make  superb  grenadiers,  complain 
of  all  the  uneasy  feelings  of  a fine  lady. 

This  nervousness  is  now  felt  in  all 
classes,  it  has  become  universal,  and  it 
increases  from  day  to  day. 

[54] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


To  escape  from  it  one  must  fight  vigor- 
ously against  it.  It  is  a question  of  moral 
resistance  and  not  of  physical  strength. 

Unhappy  is  he  who  can  not  straighten 
himself  up  morally,  who  too  quickly  de- 
clares himself  ill!  He  takes  his  place 
among  the  innumerable  followers  of  the 
body  of  the  army  and  life  is  hard  for  him. 
In  the  combat  of  life  as  in  a campaign  we 
bury  the  dead  with  respect,  we  nurse 
with  solicitude  the  wounded,  but  no  one 
loves  the  lame  who  do  not  look  ill  and 
yet  are  always  complaining.  However,  the 
physician  understands  and  loves  these 
feeble  creatures.  He  recognizes  in  them 
the  weaknesses  against  which  he  himself 
must  fight ; but  if  he  is  ready  to  help  them 
with  warm  sympathy  he  must  do  it  by 
showing  them  the  only  road,  which  is  self- 
education  ! 

Not  content  with  overlooking  our  phys- 
ical discomforts,  we  must  also  diminish 
our  impressionability  as  to  moral  emotions. 

[ 55 1 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


I do  not  mean  by  that  to  say  that  we 
must  shut  ourselves  up  in  a cruel  indif- 
ference, being  moved  by  nothing.  This 
would  be  egotism  and  that  is  one  of  the 
repugnant  sides  of  a stoicism  pushed  to 
excess. 

We  should  react  briskly,  act  enthusi- 
astically for  good,  obey  the  impulse  of 
our  better  feelings.  But  however  sponta- 
neous this  reaction  may  be,  we  must  nev- 
ertheless leave  time  for  calm  reason  to 
exercise  a rapid  control.  Our  reason  is 
that  which  as  an  arbiter  judges  finally  the 
value  of  the  emotions  of  sensibility  which 
make  us  act.  If  it  is  a sentiment  of  good- 
ness, of  pity,  which  carries  us  away,  rea- 
son very  quickly  gives  its  approval.  But 
when  we  are  about  to  give  way  to  a feeling 
of  anger,  envy,  vexation,  reason  should 
intervene  to  correct  the  first  impression  and 
modify  the  final  decision. 

It  is  the  same  when  the  emotion,  with- 
out being  morally  unhealthy,  is  useless  and 
[56] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY. 


only  keeps  up,  without  profit  for  any  one, 
a sickly  condition.  It  is  necessary  every- 
where and  at  all  times  to  know  how  to  stop 
in  time  a tempest  of  emotional  feeling  as 
we  stop  the  vibration  of  a glass  by  putting 
our  finger  upon  its  edge. 

I often  hear  people  to  whom  I give  this 
hygienic  moral  advice  answer  me  with 
vivacity : “But  I can  not  do  it;  I have 
always  been  like  this;  it  is  my  tempera- 
ment.” I do  not  doubt  it.  The  tempera- 
ment is  precisely  that  innate  disposition 
which  we  show  from  birth,  which  educa- 
tion often  exaggerates,  and  which  always 
forms  the  foundation  of  our  moral  person- 
ality. 

But  by  rational  education  of  ourselves 
we  modify  our  ideas  and  our  sentiments 
and  we  make  our  temperament  of  a noble 
character. 

It  is  by  no  means  necessary  for  that  to 
have  a strong  will,  considered  as  a free 
power.  It  suffices  to  think  well,  to  see 
[57 1 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


clearly  before  us  the  path  to  be  fol- 
lowed. 

When  one  is  quite  convinced  of  a truth 
it  seizes  upon  him  and  leads  him  on.  A 
French  philosopher.  Guyau,  has  well  said, — 
“He  who  does  not  act  as  he  thinks,  thinks 
badly.” 

This  work  of  self-education  is  less  dif- 
ficult than  one  would  think.  I see  every 
day  sick  people  who  during  all  their  lives 
have  suffered  cruelly  from  this  impression- 
ability which  renders  them  incapable  of 
performing  their  duties.  Often  in  some 
days,  almost  always  in  some  weeks,  they 
succeed  in  altering  their  point  of  view, 
in  seeing  things  from  another  angle.  In 
proportion  as  they  recover  their  mental 
calm  under  the  empire  of  healthy  reflec- 
tions, functional  troubles  disappear,  sleep 
returns,  the  appetite  arises,  the  body  be- 
comes stronger,  and  the  success  of  this 
mental  treatment  demonstrates  the  su- 
premacy of  the  mind  over  the  body. 

[58] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


It  is  in  this  self-education  that  the  sick 
should  find  a cure,  and  well  people  find 
a preservative  against  nervous  diseases. 
They  should  begin  in  little  things,  in  the 
good  habit  of  overlooking  trifles  and  going 
bravely  forward  without  troubling  too 
much  about  their  own  ease. 

With  age  anxiety  increases.  Practical 
life  brings  us  annoyances  of  all  kinds;  new 
occasion  to  control  our  sensibility,  volun- 
tarily to  create  an  optimistic  disposition 
which  will  make  us,  as  the  saying  is,  take 
everything  by  the  good  end. 

Finally,  if,  having  reached  a certain  ma- 
turity of  mind,  we  have,  however  little,  suc- 
ceeded in  creating  this  precious  condition  of 
the  soul,  our  aspirations  should  rise  higher 
still  and  we  should  face  the  duties  which 
our  presence  in  this  world  imposes  upon 
us  in  our  intercourse  with  our  fellow  beings. 

We  see  then  clearly  that  the  main  ob- 
ject of  our  life  should  be  the  constant  per- 
fecting of  our  moral  self. 

Tsoi 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


In  the  absence  of  all  religious  conception, 
of  all  peremptory  morality,  the  thinker 
feels  the  unspeakable  trouble  which  results 
from  a life  where  egotism  prevails.  To 
find  complete  happiness  and  health  we 
must  then  turn  our  attention  away  from 
ourselves  and  fix  it  upon  others;  altruism 
should  take  the  place  of  native  egotism. 
This  tendency  can  not  carry  us  too  far  and 
We  risk  but  little  in  forgetting  ourselves 
completely.  Is  this  not  so  ? 

In  this  domain  of  higher  morality  our 
step  at  best  is  as  unsteady  as  in  the  mental 
hygiene  which  we  should  oppose  to  phys- 
ical ills  and  vexations.  Here  also  we  have 
need  of  all  possible  moral  assistance. 
Those  whose  turn  of  mind  still  permits  of 
a simple  faith  find  a support  in  their  relig- 
ious convictions  if  they  are  sincere  and 
lived  up  to.  Those  whose  reflections  lead 
them  to  be  freethinkers  find  in  themselves, 
in  a stoicism  free  from  egotism,  strength 
to  resist  all  which  life  brings  them. 

[60] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


Wo  to  the  indifferent  ones — those  who 
seek  only  the  satisfaction  of  their  own  self- 
ish desires! 

It  is  dangerous  to  go  through  life  with- 
out religion  and  without  philosophy.  I 
can  even,  without  doing  any  wrong  to  the 
believers,  say  plainly  without  philosophy; 
for  religion  itself  can  be  efficacious  only 
when  it  creates  a living  philosophy  in  him 
who  practises  it. 

The  banner  matters  little  if  we  carry  it 
high  enough! 

The  influence  of  the  physical  over  the 
moral  is  generally  exaggerated  and  bio- 
logical science  not  well  understood  or  well 
interpreted  has  encouraged  a crude  and 
gross  materialism  which  can  never  avail 
in  regulating  the  life. 

It  is  useless,  in  my  eyes,  to  return,  in 
order  to  solve  the  problem,  to  the  ancient 
conceptions  of  a spiritual  dualism,  to  turn 
the  back  on  reason  and  substitute  a blind 
faith  for  it.  It  suffices  to  recall  the  fact 
[61] 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 


( 


that  there  is  an  ideal  world  and  that  we  at 
the  same  time  obey  the  impulses  of  sensi  - 
bility and  the  incentives  of  reason.  We  can 
draw  largely  from  the  depths  of  moral  con- 
ceptions which  successive  generations  have 
created  and  work  for  the  harmonious 
development  of  our  personality. 

Our  moral  health  depends  upon  it  and 
as  the  body  suffers  in  the  rebound  of  the 
various  conditions  of  our  spirit  we  shall, 
without  repeal,  assure  our  physical  health 
by  the  education  of  our  reason. 

***** 

The  day  after  the  above  lecture  I re- 
ceived letters  from  some  persons  who  told 
me  that  they  had  profited  by  my  advice 
and  who  manifested  their  intention  of  ap- 
plying this  mental  treatment  to  their  ills. 
I congratulate  them  and  I beg  them  to 
remember  well  that  in  insisting  upon  the 
power  of  mental  representations  I have 
never  wished  to  accuse  their  sufferings 

[62] 


MIND  ON  THE  BODY 


of  being  imaginary.  I know  all  the  effort 
which  this  stoical  education  demands. 

On  the  other  side,  I fear  to  have  been 
misunderstood  by  others.  I have  been 
told  of  husbands  who  have  recognized 
their  wives  in  the  cases  which  I have 
sketched  and  have  not  hesitated  to  tell 
them  so  with  too  little  gentleness. 

I have  seen  young  ladies  a little  sharply 
correct  a too  emotional  friend.  I should 
be  distressed  to  have  been  the  involuntary 
cause  of  such  things. 

It  is  our  own  ills  and  not  those  of  others 
which  we  should  treat  with  this  philosoph- 
ical disdain. 

We  must  not  look  for  the  mote  in  the  eye 
of  our  neighbor  and  fail  to  see  the  beam 
which  is  in  our  own! 

THE  END. 


863! 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY 
LIBRARY 


DURHAM,  NORTH  CAROLINA 
27706 


